


50 Themes - Bioshock AU

by Ichigo777



Category: BioShock
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Multi, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 18:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3457157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ichigo777/pseuds/Ichigo777
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>50 Themes challenge for my Alternate Universe Bioshock.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Information About My AU

Information About This:  
This is a 50-themes challenge I've written for Bioshock. The topics are listed in the order I wrote them: 5 sentences each. This is my own AU for the series. It is NOT CANNON.

All you really need to know about my AU is as followed:  
1) When Jolene became pregnant she told Ryan, who ordered her to get an abortion. Jolene defied these orders & had the baby anyway, a girl she named Anthea, however Ryan himself was not aware of this decision. Three years later, Fontaine discovers the existence of this child and attempts to kidnap her, killing Jolene in the process. Anthea is able to hide from his men and is later recovered by Ryan and raised by him when his security uncovers Fontaine's plot.  
  
2) Without a weapon/back-up plan, Fontaine remains in the open in Rapture, untouchable by Ryan's guards due to his defenses and forces. Fontaine has a son named Atlas whom has tried to raise to be his disciple, but Atlas is a kind boy by nature who can't find it in himself to do anything horrible. Fontaine begins to hate his son, hurting him whenever the boy 'fails' to be like himself. Atlas runs into Anthea when they are both 5 and instantly forms a connection with her. He later falls in love with her and tries to protect her from his father.  
  
3) Upon receiving Anthea, Ryan himself is immediately dumped by Diane McClintock, who's beyond angry that he's been with another woman. For a long time, Ryan's attention is focused on his daughter and he doesn't date. When Anthea turns 11, he begins having flings with women again, all of which end in less than a month. A night at one of Sander's plays draws his attention to a girl with sapphire eyes, whom he pursues. The girl named Echo is not the typical type he dates: she refuses his lavish gifts and his advances. Ryan eventually comes to realize that she's attracted to him, not his power or wealth. He eventually marries her.  
  
4) Echo eventually has 3 children: a son who is named Jack (and whose appearance is reminiscent of the cannon Jack) and a pair of twin girls, Irinna & Iriena.  
  
5) Over the years, Atlas & Anthea become closer & start dating. Anthea openly defies her father by dating Atlas, who Ryan is convinced is just like his father Fontaine. A series of events transpire to prove that theory wrong and Ryan eventually comes to accept Anthea's choice. Anthea & Atlas are married and later have a daughter named Arda.  
  
6) For clarification, Echo is 21 when she meets Andrei, 22 when she gets married, 23 when Jack is born, and 28 when her girls are born. Anthea moves in with her father at age 3, meets Atlas for the first time at 5, meets Echo at 11(when Echo is 21), begins dating Atlas at 13, and marries him at 18. Atlas is the same age as Anthea; Arda is born when they are 20. So, when Echo is 33, Jack is 10, Iriena & Irinna are 5, Atlas & Anthea are 23, and Arda is 3. :)


	2. 50 Themes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wah sorry, had a formatting issue.  
> BTW it's labeled as: prompt # - prompt title - characters - POV

31 -Ring ((Echo & Andrei 1)) {Echo}

The band was platinum and set with a solitary diamond of the most brilliant cut she's ever seen.In the right light it almost seemed to turn deep blue. The band itself was inlayed with small areas of gold, bronze, and onyx; the shape was an ever changing array of corners, curves, and points. Only when she had studied it for quite some time did it dawn on her that it was shaped in the skyline of Rapture. It was as if he were handing the city itself over to her too alongside his heart.

 

5 – Destiny ((Atlas)) {Atlas}

His father always spoke of his destiny and how the would take what should be theirs: the ranting would go on for hours and hours. He grew used to the talks, to the ideas, and to the methods he would use.When the day came when his first mission was to begin, he thought he was ready – then he saw **her** and everything changed. The one he was sent to destroy stole his heart away in a passing glance and he knew then he would never be able to harm her. But, after all, Atlas never did truly believe in that thing called destiny.

 

35 – Voice ((Atlas & Anthea 1)) {3rd person}

They are most different in terms of the tone and demeanor of their voices. He is like water, liquid and smooth: lies and exaggerations roll off his tongue with ease like the music or art he loves so much. She is flint: her words are sharp and concise, scientific in nature. But angered the flint sparks fires that burn through all in its path as her tongue changes on instinct from English to her native Bosnian. But neither would have the other any other way: two perfect halves forming one whole.

 

38 – Salvation ((Andrei & Atlas 1)) {Andrei}

He objected vehemently to their relationship: no daughter who carried his blood, the blood of the King of Rapture, would sully herself with someone who bore the name of Fontaine. They persisted none the less, much to his growing displeasure. It was only when they were trapped, he and the spawn on Fontaine, and said boy carried him to safety despite being more than able to leave him behind, did he start to see that perhaps his judgment had been a tad hasty. He had asked the boy why we was saving him after he had treated the boy so badly; the boy had just smiled and mumbled in voice that he had to strain to hear that he didn't want to see her cry. Perhaps this...Atlas would be the salvation of the name Fontaine.

 

10 – Blood ((Echo & Jack 1)) {Jack}

Mother always told him his blood was special: it was a way in or out of almost anywhere in their city. When he was older, he understood that this ability was possible due to his father and the side of himself that was inherited from him. He often wondered why, even years later when he was practically grown, that Mother always did that: praised his father over all others and said nothing of herself. Perhaps this was the reason why he always clung to her, eyes upturned as he asked endless questions about her and her past. And, to any who would ask him in years to come, he was always proud to say that his blood made him a Ryan, but the heart he wore so openly on his sleeve had been nurtured by his mother's never-ending love and kindness.

 

44- Born ((Andrei & Jack 1)) {Andrei}

When she told him she was pregnant he'd been initially furious and later nervous - when she told him she was in labor and their baby was coming **now** , he'd been panicked. They were trapped in a lower section of Hephaestus alone after all and he certainly didn't know anything about delivering babies. Luckily she did and despite the obvious pain she was in, she was the calm one who talked him through it all. Holding his son, the son that moments ago had been born into his own hands, filled him with the oddest emotion, one that try as he might he couldn't place. Hours later, when help finally arrived, he let the doctors carry his exhausted wife off for an exam but he wouldn't surrender his hold of the boy he'd named Jack to the nurse until his arms had almost gone numb and his eyes were just barely open.

 

28 – Case ((Jack & Iriena and Irinna 1)) {Jack}

Mama always looked lonely and father tired: it had been the nature of things lately at home. Try as he might, he didn't see a solution to solve the problem – his sisters, however, did. At night they snuck into his room and onto his bed to whisper their plan, to plead their case with him as they asked for his help. Seeing their faces, he had agreed, only belatedly realizing that like his father he couldn't seem to tell them no either. The next day, with one sister's hand in each of his own, they set out for supplies with the hopes that this idea would return the smiles to mother and father's faces.

 

9 – Fire ((Anthea)) {Anthea}

She had often heard it from the lips of others that she was like fire. Her temper could rage and burn through anything; her personality crackles and snapped at those below; and she was always hot to the eye, at least. But, like fire, she had her softer side too: warm smiles, warming hugs, and ice-melting beauty. Her smile had thawed or cracked many shells, including her own father's. And her temperament had truly proven her place in Rapture had not been just given by right of birth, but earned.

 

47 – Creation ((Andrei)) {Andrei}

In his lifetime and career, he had made many things – new inventions and innovations to change the world, but his two proudest creations were now before him. Rapture, his paradise under the sea where marvels happened everyday was visible before him in all its glory through the large window. In front of that window was his other great 'creation' of sorts: his family. Each of them, whether related to him by blood or marriage, was dear in his or her own way to him.. It was at times like this that he truly considered just how lucky he truly was.

 

46 – Necklace ((Echo & Children 1)) {3rd person}

Upon her neck she always wore a chain with three charms: a crown, a two blossom flower, and a star. The charms functioned as genetic keys: each a perfect genetic profile of the one whom it represented. She always said with a smile that the jewelry represented her family. The crown was Andrei, the king of Rapture and their home; the star was Jack, the bright and shining hope for Rapture's future; and the two blossom flower was for Iriena and Irinna, her cheerful identical twins. It was Jack who, with a smile of his own, commented that if the charms represent his father, his sisters, and Jack himself then Echo was represented by the unbreakable chain itself that bound them all together.

 

30 – Seed ((Andrei & Children 1)) {Andrei}

He never desired to be a father: for as long as he could remember he was careful beyond measure to prevent it, more so in Rapture. But things changed with time: he wound up getting married and from there children seemed almost inevitable. When he first found out this was to come to fruition, he had doubted: Jack, however, turned out to be an ideal son and the two little girls that followed were equally as delightful. Watching them, the products of his seed, grown and thrive made him wonder why he had resisted the idea for so long. Life before them seemed so empty compared to now.

 

34 – Stars ((Andrei & Iriena and Irinna 1)) {Andrei}

His wife always told him that he was putty in the hands of their girls – he had scoffed and laughed at this: no man, woman, or child is the boss of Andrew Ryan. She smiled and left with her usual 'yes, dear' although he thought the way she said it was particularly patronizing. That evening, his girls bound up to him begging for a pet: two pairs of blue eyes glistening like stars bore into his soul and stole away all his resolve. As he relented, he caught a glimpse of his wife's knowing smile before the girls buried him in kisses, hugs, praises, and wide smiles. Seeing them so happy he thought that nothing was wrong with spoiling his two little girls.

 

33 – Traitor ((Andrei & Atlas 2)) {Andrei}

He came home one afternoon to find that boy his precious daughter fancied lying on his doorstep unconscious and beaten to the point that he was almost unrecognizable. A bit stunned for a moment, he dragged the boy inside, then called for his doctor to come – as he waited he wondered just what had transpired to leave the boy in such a state. As the doctor arrived and began to patch up the fresh wounds, he could see layers of old wounds, scars, and bruises beneath, some healed and some permanent – and among those a very particular mark that made his blood boil. It was that night that the boy, no **Atlas** became a permanent resident of his home for it was obvious that the next time there would not be a bloody body at his door but a corpse. The mark had made it clear: to Fontaine, the boy had become nothing more than a traitor undeserving of the title of son.

 

42 – Reaction ((Andrei & Anthea 1)) {Andrei}

She was dreading what his reaction to her announcement would be: surely he would be most upset with her for this. Her father's relationship with Atlas was tenuous at best – this would surely add to that. He didn't seem surprised upon entering his office to see her waiting there for him, which she found odd. She found her eyes had dropped to the floor out of nerves and, instead of the long elaborate speech she had planned, she just blurted it out to him: 'Atlas and I are having a baby.' She was expecting yelling or perhaps even a slap, but what came instead was a warm embrace, a smile, and some kind words: once again she was left marveling at her father.

 

45 – Brave ((Andrei & Atlas 3)) {Andrei}

He was interrupted from his work by a timid knock at the door and the subsequent entry of a very noticeably nervous Atlas who kept fidgeting with his coat and shirt. The boy sat and, upon being granted his full attention, proceeded to ramble on about Anthea this and Anthea that. It was only a few moments after the boy had at last stopped rambling did he realize just why he had come: permission to marry his Anthea. A part of him felt touched that the boy was being so very traditional by asking him first, but mostly he was struck by how brave the boy was to come and do so: to walk into the office of his father's sworn enemy and ask for the hand of that enemy's daughter. As he rose to wander over to the boy with a slight smile, he could only think of how Anthea's face would look when Atlas found the bravery to ask **her.**

 

14 – Sacrifice ((Andrei & Anthea 2)) {Andrei}

When Anthea came to see him to inform him that Atlas had at last asked her to get married several weeks after the boy had asked him for permission, he smiled broadly and held her. Then she asked him if he would allow Atlas to take her, or rather their, name. He was a bit confused at first until Anthea calmed herself and explained slowly: it was their wish to discard or sacrifice the name of Fontaine. The thought was both shocking and touching: he knew that Atlas and his father had had a serious falling out, but he never thought that it might come to this. She smiled at him, shyly admitting that it had been her suggestion: he found himself smiling in return and nodding, eager to take this sacrifice and turn it into a game changing moment.

 

2 – Ghost ((Andrei & Anthea 3)) {Andrei}

The first day he brought her home she followed him everywhere, even when he went into the bathroom. When he put her to bed, he stayed until she had fallen asleep before leaving – but hours later when he himself had gone to bed, she arrived in a run as if chased and climbed up beside him. Eyes wide as if she'd seen a ghost, she clung to him for dear life, pressing herself as close to him as physically possible. Each subsequent night ended the same, with her running to him for over a month before he gave in and let her sleep beside him to start. Even years later, there are nights when the ghosts of her past rear their ugly heads once more and she'll coming running to him to let his arms chase them away.

 

4 – Bruise ((Atlas & Arda 1)) {Atlas}

When she came home, he immediately noticed the bruise on her cheek. Small and red, it marred her otherwise perfect face: he demanded to know who and why. In a small voice, the story came and Atlas felt his rage rise: his beautiful daughter, teased for her two-tone hair? In a rage that would have made his horrid father proud he left to find the man that had dared to touch what was his, to hurt his child. Days later the bruise on her face had all but faded away – the broken bones of the one unfortunate enough to pick on his child, however....

 

43 – Alien ((Andrei & Arda 1)) {Andrei}

His normal afternoon at work was interrupted by a phone call: the moment he heard Atlas' voice on the other end he just knew and hurried from his office. He arrived just as the doctor stepped out to let Atlas back in: he held the doctor back for just a minute to ensure everything and everyone was okay. When he entered, Atlas was cuddled next to his Anthea who raised her tired gaze from the bundle in her arms to him with a wide smile. It was Atlas who handed him his brand new granddaughter, wrapped in a lilac blanket – by now the feeling of holding a baby was hardly alien to him but this one was different. As her tiny hands grabbed at his finger, there was no doubt in his mind he'd be spoiling this little girl too.

 

21 – Insult ((Echo & Iriena and Irinna 1)) {Echo}

She was having a perfectly normal day out with her beloved little girls: they were picking out dresses for the upcoming holiday. They both would try on the same design, always a perfect pair and that was what made her smile: she couldn't imagine her girls any other way. Then another shopper, a worker for her husband she knew by sight alone, passed by and gave them a look she didn't quite like – the words she caught him mumble she hated. 'Freaks' he had muttered as he looked at her girls: her beloved girls...freaks?! The thought that he had dared to insult **her** girls, knowing full well who their father was was an even bigger insult – one Echo intended to have rectified the moment they returned home.

 

22 – Dare ((Echo & Andrei 2)) {Andrei}

He knew something was amiss the second his dear wife returned home from shopping and slammed the door shut behind her with such force that the framed photos lining the hall shuddered: he quickly set aside his newspaper and put out his cigar. His daughter skipped by on their was to their room, smiling at him widely and obviously unaware of their mother's sour mood, and then Echo rounded the corner with a look of fury etched across her face that made him pause – he had never seen such a look upon his normally docile and cheerful wife's face before. She took the seat beside him on the sofa without a word, grabbed the bottle of whiskey from the stand that he had poured himself a glass of earlier, and downed the entire rest of the bottle in one go: only after she'd thrown the bottle into the wall with enough force to dent the wood and create millions of tiny glass shards did the story spill from her lips. When she finished, he found he was equally as incensed as her, which did not bode well for Mr. Ruchin: the audacity of the man to dare to look down upon his precious children! There was a phone call immediately made to Mullins and only after the man had ensured him that the issue would be 'dealt with' before dinner did he return to her side and wrap his arms around her, bringing her closer to kiss away the rage that was now intermixed with tears.

 

7 – Fade ((Atlas & Arda 2)) {Atlas}

He spared little if any thought to his life before Anthea: she had quickly become the center of his life and, despite their initial tension, her father too had become true family to him: family he had never really had before. Now he had a daughter, a beautiful little two year old that Anthea had allowed him to name, his precious Arda – she too had become a center part in his life. It wasn't until he was more than halfway through his morning routine with Arda is his arms that he became aware that someone was following him, watching his every move. At the counter of the next store buying flowers for Anthea, he was beyond shocked to recognize the figure beside him as his own father, in a disguise of course but still recognizable to him – the fear and panic that gripped his heart, feelings that had long ago begun to fade away, came back in a new intensity. Their eyes met and he shifted Arda to his other arm, away from the grasp of his father – the clerk handed him the bouquet and he found himself all but running from the store, his precious daughter pressed tightly to his chest.

 

48 – Guilt ((Anthea & Arda 1)) {Anthea}

When she gazed at her daughter, she felt many things that all mothers tend to but also something that she was sure was unique to her alone – guilt. Her daughter had been gifted with beauty, intelligence, and the genes that opened all of Rapture to her: she had also received the misfortune of inheriting both of her parent's hair coloration. Two tone hair, brown in both light and dark mixed together in almost a patchwork of color: Atlas said it made Arda beautiful, she thought only of how much the other children would likely pick on her poor child. On Arda's first day of school, she spent an hour fixing her daughter's hair in such a way that all of the light brown patches were midden under curls, waves, or clips: she'd hoped it would spare Arda some pain. Arda, however, had come home with her hair undone and a wide smile, much to her surprise, talking of how all the girls were jealous of her for it – light brown and dark brown shone together under Rapture's light and she swore she felt the guilt melt away in the warmth it created.

 

36 – Backwards ((Jack)) {Jack}

Jack knew from a young age he was different from most other children: his mother often reminded him he had been speaking in full sentences before he could even stand. Most young boys liked playing in the mud or running games, but he had never done any of these: Jack's idea of fun had been going to work with his father, watching him fill out forms, have meetings, and design new plasmids with awe-struck eyes. By the time he was five, he would be reading the morning paper after his father had finished, pouring over every word: his father had chuckled at first until he had read the first article perfectly and the laughter had turned into shock and then pride. Most boys didn't decide what they wanted to be until they were older and decided to pursue a career but Jack was backwards – he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up already and was working back towards that goal. It didn't matter to him that he was 'odd' or looked at strangle for he had his father's approval, his mother's love, and his sisters' admiration: what else did he really need?

 

3 – Control ((Atlas & Anthea 2)) {Atlas}

In their relationship, Anthea was usually the one in control of what they did, where they ate, and so on: even at work Anthea was the one running the show while he did advertising and image. Generally, this was how he liked it to be – Anthea was a strong headed and stubborn as her father, never one to take no for an answer or give in when she thought she was right. It was with trepidation that he attempted to approach the subject of her relinquishing that control in the bedroom – true to his suspicions, she did resist him in this matter. Atlas found himself channeling her father that night as he did things his way for once – he tied her down and shut her up before ravishing her. He expected anger or annoyance afterward, but she gave him none at all, just a giddy smile and a simple question: “Why didn't you do this sooner?”

 

18 – Ashes ((Echo)) {Echo}

Her old life on the shores above had been filled with glamor, fame, fortune, notoriety, popularity, adoration, and opulence to name a few – it has also been filled with controlling agents, sleepless nights, depression, endless tears, and mounting doubts. Following a failed relationship that turned out to be a ruse, she had wanted to die, to burn away into nothing but ashes, or sink to the bottom of the sea like a stone – fate had had other plans for her as a boat had conveniently arrived just in time to fish her from the sea and bring Echo, not Lucky, to Rapture. In a world where no one knew her face, she tried to start over: her hair gradually went back to its natural brown and she found work as a seamstress, her first career. Yet the stage still called to her and eventually Cohen got her to agree to a minor part in a play, a part that attracted the city's king to her and filled Echo with doubts: how was she, who was fooled by a ruse of a relationship, to know if this king among men truly loved her or if she was being played again? She trusted her heart, dated him for a while, and cried when he proposed to her: she had gone from riches to ashes to a phoenix rising from the flames to start life anew.

 

16 – Space ((Jack & Iriena and Irinna 2)) {Jack}

He was five when his mother told him he was to have siblings and he wanted to be a big brother with all his heart: his father had smiled widely at him and his mother had lifted his hands to touch her stomach with a smile to match. The first time he sees them he's starry eyed at the fact that he has not one but two new sisters: he holds their tiny hands in his and lets them tug on his hair as he whispers a promise to always protect them. At night he sneaks out his bed into their nursery to sit beside them as the sleep: if they fuss when they're not hungry, he rocks them back to sleep softly to let his mother rest which always earns him a gentle ruff on the head from his father in the morning. Time passes quickly, his sisters learn to walk and talk, but he still visits them at night often: they always smile and hug him as Jack chases away all nightmares and fears from their minds. One night when he's ill and feeling awful, he's stunned to find no space to move in his bed: his sisters have come to take care and watch over him this night.

 

11 – Bound ((Echo & Iriena and Irinna 2) {Echo}

Her girls were a breath of fresh air, energetic and giggly with seemingly endless ideas and imagination: Jack was the serious and intellectual one, like her Andrei. Their favorite place to relax wwa Arcadia: she loved the flowers that grew everywhere and they loved the wide open spaces of green grass to run, jump, and play on. Her girls would enjoy nature and ask endless questions about the world above – like their brother Jack, they too were far too familiar with their father to believe that the scenes from his amusement park were without exaggeration. Andrei had always told her not to answer their questions about that world for it was bound to cause even more curiosity about it: she always thought that it would be not telling them that was bound to bring that about. As she watched her girls laughing and playing on the grass together she wondered is they would stay here in Rapture their whole lives, never seeing the world above, or if curiosity would get the best of them and they would beg their father for a vacation on the lands above.

 

41 – Hologram ((Andrei & Iriena and Irinna 2)) {Andrei}

When his girls were five he had pulled them aside into his home office to explain, as he had to Jack before them, about the purpose of Rapture and its construction – that talk had been followed by their first ever trip to Ryan Amusements, a private trip for just the three of them. He assumed since they had no questions for him afterward that their curiosity about the surface had been sated and thus things went on relatively like normal – at least until he left work early one day and headed to Arcadia, intent of walking his dear wife and girls home, only to find them pestering her with endless questions about the world above. In bed that night, he had asked Echo what they had asked her and how long this had been going on – the reality that they had been asking since that day along with the nature of the questions left him with no doubts that they were more curious than ever and it would only be a mater of time before they came to him. True to his thoughts, they bounded up to him one evening and began to pelt him with those endless questions which he silenced almost immediately with a look and only when they were quiet did he lead his girls back to his home office again: he presented them with a map, a hologram really, of the outside world which could be moved, touched, enhanced, and enlarged to explore. Two pairs of starlit blue eyes sparkled as they began to pour over their hologram gift, checking every option one by one for every place – with a sigh and the hope that this would do the trick, he returned to his newspaper.

 

40 – Myth ((Andrei & Arda 2)) {Andrei}

It was an early evening when the knock came on his office door and roused him from the ravine of work – he was momentarily stunned, then annoyed that an unexpected visitor had been allowed in, but both melted away as the door creaked open and little Arda peeked her head in with timid eyes. With a smile, he coaxed the little five year old to him, hoisting her onto his lap when she neared and he hugged her tightly as she giggled – this was his precious granddaughter after all, and he was intent on seeing her be as happy as his own daughter, her mother, had been as a child. He wondered momentarily why she was here and, more importantly, how she had gotten here alone at this hour: Arda spoke softly, asking him a question he had answered for his own children, the question about the myth of the surface. In hindsight, he probably should have seen it coming for both Arda's father Atlas and mother Anthea had been born and spent their whole lives down here in Rapture: his Anthea had asked once, but her curiosity about the surface had been very short lived. It was with a grin that he started his story of the lands above, the decision to build Rapture, the process of construction, and why he had made it: the story continued even as he carried Arda home on his shoulders through the streets of their city.

 

15 – Pause ((Andrei & Jack 2)) {Andrei}

When Jack was very little, he would come home from work to find Echo reading to him on the couch from a book with no pictures that looked more suited for a university student that a toddler – despite this Jack always gave her his full attention and would only run to him to hug him when she stopped and bookmarked the page. This habit of reading continued even when he took an older Jack to work with him for the day: his dear wife would be waiting on the couch for Jack and she would read, commenting that Jack loved to be read to. One morning years later he woke up as normal, headed to the kitchen for breakfast, and began reading the paper at the table like always – he was a bit surprised to see Jack join him and then ask for the paper's first section when he had finished. He watched Jack with the paper reading, rather _pretending_ to read, it just like he did: he found himself asking his son with an amused tone what he thought of the recent council vote that was the top story. He was forced to pause his laughter and amusement as Jack began to read the article with every pronunciation and pause done perfectly: as he sat there in complete shock he wondered if his Echo had been onto something with that reading habit after all...

 

25 – Burden ((Atlas & Arda 3)) {Atlas}

Arda was growing up fast, getting taller, smarter, and more curious – he watched her with growing pride and affection. She loved talking to her mother and asking her grandfather endless questions about himself – he dreaded the day she decided to ask him. But of course that day came where his little girl came to him to ask him about his side of the family: he tried to avoid it, unwilling to burden her with the details of his horrid past. It was actually Andrei who came to help him explain it in a way that Arda could understand without telling too much of the horrors – for that he was eternally grateful beyond words. If he could eliminate the need to lay this burden upon her shoulders, he would do almost anything: no child deserved to see or know of her father's suffering.

 

17 – Doubt ((Andrei & Children 2)) {Andrei}

He liked to think of himself as a man of action, an innovator pushing the boundaries, and as one who was not afraid of anything...except perhaps of children. For some reason the idea of raising children terrified him more than he would ever admit and so he did everything in his power to prevent it, even told himself he'd never find a woman he loved enough to make his own: he had been wrong about that for Echo, in all her simplicity, stole his heart without even trying. When Jack was born he was determined to let Echo do all of the care but three days in seeing her barely awake, exhausted beyond measure, made him act – Echo had to show him how to hold the tiny boy, feed him, and just about everything else which made him feel pathetic and doubt his merit as a father even more. Echo kept insisting, so he kept persisting and bit by bit he got better at taking care of Jack without her help or guidance – he actually started to even like doing it, and be able to see Jack's smile or hear his little laughs. By the time his girls were born, he was comfortable doing all of the tasks that had filled him with such doubt before: he felt perhaps he was finally able to add the title of proper father alongside his others.

 

39 – Restrain ((Andrei & Arda 3)) {Andrei}

He adorable granddaughter came to him for many things, most of them relating to the city, the world above, or about her mother's childhood – he was always happy to help her with a smile and a hug. When she came to him one afternoon seeking help with a family tree project from school, he could clearly see that Anthea had researched her mother's side as it was done, so he helped her gladly fill in his branch side – she smiled and then looked at him with questioning eyes. Gently, she pointed to the other half of the tree and he looked to see that Atlas had aided in filling in part of his side: specifically Atlas had filled in his mother's side and left his father's completely blank. Arda looked at him with those eyes and he recalled that he had come to Atlas's aid on the subject of his father with Arda before and it was obviously why she was here now – he had been very careful to restrain his palpable anger and disdain towards the man during that talk. He smiled at her, gently patting her head, then grabbed a pen and wrote a long note for Arda's teacher: that portion of the tree was remaining blank.

 

6 – Element ((Atlas & Anthea 3)) {Atlas}

They were a well matched pair, he often thought: their strengths generally covered the weaknesses of the other and each shone in a different area. Anthea was in her element when it had anything to do with science, business, or planning: like her father she excelled at being able to interpret, understand, and explain complex blueprints, plans, policies, formulas, and other such things in a way that not only everyone could understand but also with a tone and confidence that showed she knew what she was doing or speaking about. His element was advertising, the way of the gab, so to speak: be it art for an ad, costumes for a commercial, dialog for an announcement, or catchy jingle to hook buyers, he was the king of that field. Together they were a formidable duo, able to tackle any issue together and meld their ideas together into one seamless one: it made working so much easier and more enjoyable when the one you were working beside was the one you loved, after all. With Anthea using science to design and improve plasmids and he himself writing the ads and doing the marketing, the business was booming like never before – that made all of Rapture, especially Anthea's father, happier.

 

27 – Travel ((Andrei & Children 3)) {Andrei}

Instead of his hologram map calming his girls, it only seemed to excite them even more and, worse yet, it had gotten Jack to join in their curiosity: Arda too was overly curious about the surface and bothering him on occasion about it. He found it very odd that Echo had taken his side of the argument about the surface and how horrible it was: Echo was normally all about learning and exploring for one's self so this odd behavior was unprecedented and for moment he wondered how much he truly knew his wife. It was with a heavy heart that he began making plans for them to travel to the surface, a brief trip to the world above that only he could pull off without anyone noticing – it would be the only way to stop the endless questions. Choosing a place to visit was difficult as he did not wish to pick a city where his face had been well known even if it had been decades ago – transportation would be easy to procure given his wealth, but where was the right place to visit to prove his message? In the end he settled on California which would suit well for giving them a taste of the world above without threatening to expose him or Rapture: when he gathered the whole family and told them all of their travel plans his three children cheered, Atlas stared, Anthea smiled, Arda laughed in joy, and his Echo turned such a shade of white he was stunned she didn't faint.

 

26 – Gate ((Echo & Children 2)) {Echo}

When her husband had announced his intention of the family taking a vacation to the world above she had felt as if she could have died right then and there for she had told no one of her life above before Rapture, not even Andrei – her face must have shown something for he was next to her in an instant asking if she was alright and, being typically her, she had forced a smile, nodded, and told him the lie of 'yes'. As her children chattered excitedly over the next few days her heart felt worse and worse, but she kept a smile on her face for them as she helped each pack a small bag: her nights in Andrei's embrace were oddly sleepless or filled with nightmares of what he would think of her when at last her past came to light. The the day arrived at last as Andrei handed out clothes to blend in and they marched towards their secret exit to the world above – as they passed under the gate marking the start of Rapture, she felt her head begin to swim as fear ovrwhelmed her into darkness. She awoke in a bathysphere being held by her overly concerned Andrei while her three children sat across from her with Anthea, Atlas, and Arda all looking at her with concern: Andrei kept asking her again and again if she was alright, feeling her forehead and checking her pulse intermittently as she insisted she was fine. It was a long ride up to the surface where a yacht awaited with Sinclair and Mullins at the helm: as she stepped out she looked up at the moon, eyes widening with dread as she saw it was the same phase it had been the last time she had seen it, and promptly let the blackness take her again.

 

1 – Spiral ((Echo & Iriena and Irinna 3)) {Echo}

Th next few days were blurry to her as they traveled and she spent a lot of time in bed seasick: Andrei was down more than most worried over her health, Jack often spent mornings beside her, and her girls spent the evenings in her arms. She could hear her girls whispering worriedly to Andrei about mama's health: to his credit, he always sounded calm even when she knew he wasn't at all. She felt as if she were trapped inside a whirlpool or a spiral or sorts and being dragged back down into the darkness of her past – but she knew she had to put on a strong face for her girls who needed her. The next morning she ventured onto deck for the first time since she'd fainted that second time, joining her family for breakfast and doting on her children again: she spent her afternoon in a chair with one daughter in each arm, watching the waves and occasional whale or dolphin. That evening she told them their nightly story once more, tucking her little girls into bed with a smile and kisses, assuring them that mommy was alright now – she left with a smile on her face but with an uneasy heart still pounding in her chest.

 

19 – Save ((Andrei & Iriena and Irinna 3)) {Andrei}

They arrived in the marina as planned late on a Thursday evening and he spent the evening talking to them, explaining his plan for tomorrow: the fact that they came from Rapture had to remain secret and he made sure they all had their cover story down pat just in case. As he tried to sleep that night, he thought of his girls: he had tried so hard to save their innocence, to save them from the horrors of the surface and yet now they were here... In the morning he felt ill as he ate breakfast, noting that his dear wife looked the same, and then took one daughter's hand in each of his, leaving Jack to Echo – they started down the first street. His girls pulled him this way and that was as they looked at every store window with wide eyes: people streamed by and they stared in amazement at clothes and faces as he held their tiny hands tighter. Further up the street the passed a group of thugs attacking a young boy, calling him foul names, and both girls pushed closer to him: he sighed and pressed on knowing that would be the least worrisome thing they would see here.

 

23 – Morph ((Echo & Children 3)) {Echo}

As the days passed, she held herself together well: her children were still wide-eyed at the sights of the city, but she had noticed the subtle change. Her girls stayed glued to Andrei and Jack to her: all three were wary of straying too far away and had begun to see just how dangerous a place the surface was. She had seen their thoughts begin to morph by watching their faces go from wondering why this place was so bad to understanding in their own ways as they toured museums, streets, and shops: she could see they all missed home, missed their Rapture. On their last day, she was happy that miraculously they had somehow avoided anything to do with her past and walked happily alongside Jack: Andrei had planned the last thing to be a visit to an arts and culture museum. Jack paid little mind to the art while her girls pulled Andrei to look at every picture and exhibit: upstairs it was Irinna who commented how the lady in the posted 'looked like mommy' and, with dread, she looked herself and sure enough saw her old face staring back at her.

 

12 – Bolt ((Echo & Jack 2)) {Jack}

It was only when she didn't move that he realized something was off and looked up at her: his mother's face was white again and her eyes wide as she stared at the poster. He looked back and forth a few times noticing that it did look like mother, but it really could have been anyone: however, her reaction shouted loudly that this **was** mother. Suddenly understanding hit like a bolt of lightning about mother's odd behavior: was this what she had been worried about? He cast a glace at his father who was more interested in his watch than the poster and he understood that father didn't know and hadn't seen mother's face: he quickly tugged mother away to the cafe for a fruit drink and discreetly wrote a small note on the napkin. She sat silently drinking as he caught Mullins' eye, handing off his written instructions: he would get to the bottom of this mystery about mother before they left.

 

8 – Darkness ((Echo & Jack 3)) {Jack}

He put down the report with shaking hands, sighing loudly as he stood and headed down the hallway of the yacht: it was time to talk with mother about this mess. Finding her alone, he sat beside her and began to talk about her, about Lucky, and the pit of darkness consuming her her: he couldn't look at her as he spoke, couldn't face the possibility of her tears and want to stop. At times he heard a choked noise from her of a suppressed sigh, but he held her hand and kept talking until there was no more to be said except for his feelings: Jack made sure those were very clear. She hugged him tightly, tears in her eyes, and she looked at him with a look he knew all to well: 'how am I to tell your father?' It was with a smile that he said he would tell him for her: he had the perfect idea of how to do it.

 

24 – Heal ((Andrei & Jack 3)) {Andrei}

When the knock came on his door late in the evening he expected Mullins but it was Jack with a bundle of paper and a serious look on his face: his son shut and locked the door behind him before sitting down besides him. Without a word he was handed the pile and Jack motioned for him to read it all: he sighed as he began, wondering what Jack was up to. About twenty minutes later he put the papers down in disgust at the treatment the girl in the articles had been subjected to: as he turned to ask Jack, he was handed a photo of the blonde. Something about her seemed so familiar but he couldn't put his finger on where he knew the blonde from at least until Jack handed over a transparency and turned her hair from blonde to brown: his brain almost stopped working as the pieces clicked into place. So this was why his dear wife had argued with him, then fainted twice on this trip, and had overall seemed to be off while they were here: his eyes met Jack's, he nodded in affirmation, and stood to go see his dearest and try to heal that old wound still festering away in her heart.

 

49 – Reality ((Echo & Andrei 3)) {Andrei}

He found Echo on the deck of the yacht, staring at the stars with an unreadable expression on her face: she turned slightly when she heard his footsteps but quickly returned her gaze to the sky. Gently he sat beside her, slinging the blanket he'd brought with him over her shoulder to keep her warm, and quietly asked if she was alright – she nodded slightly yes and he could see that there were tears in the corners of her eyes. Softly he began to whisper to her, explaining Jack had shown him and that he understood now just why she had reacted the way she had: she whimpered as she looked for an exit but he grabbed her and pulled her close. And he told her gently that he didn't care who she had been before or what that girl had been called: the simple reality was that she was his Echo now, that he loved her more than he could ever say, and that nothing was going to change that Sparkling sapphire eyes turned to him wide with a mixture of shock and gratitude and he kissed her gently as her tears ran down her cheeks in rivers: it was long past the time to go home to Rapture.

 

37 – Present ((Anthea & Arda 2)) {Anthea}

Visiting the surface was eye-opening to them all but Anthea herself was not too changed: she had known from the start that the surface had been a horrid place for she had clearly seen the look in her father's eyes when he spoke of it. Arda has stuck close to her above but had been curious none the less: in particular the clothing stores filled with colorful dresses had been her favorite but she hadn't allowed Arda to buy one. On their last day, after seeing Arda's face, she had left her in Atlas' care and ventured out to a store: she had bought the blue dress trimmed in green flowers that had caught her eye in two sizes. That night she gave Arda her souvenir of the world above: a dress in Rapture blue and surface green that matched her own. She watched Arda's eyes sparkle in joy and held her precious little daughter tight: the dress had been her daughter's present but her own had been the bright smile that had been given in return.

 

13 – Wormhole ((Iriena & Irinna)) {3rd Person}

Iriena and Irinna had a knack for getting on people's nerves without really meaning to: it was just one of the things that made them them. On the trip back home they had first bothered Atlas about the watch he had bought, wondering why he needed another: one could say Atlas collected watches. Next had been Jack and his books, space books to be exact: Iriena and Irinna had sighed as they looked over Jack's shoulder and read terms like dwarf, wormhole, and nova with giggles. Then had come mother and father who they had walked in on while they were kissing: they had broken into laughter and wandered around making kissy faces with huge smiles. As they climbed into bed, Arda dropped by to hand over a picture for their album of the world above: they giggled as they braided her hair into uneven pigtails.

 

29 – Wake ((Anthea & Arda 3)) {Anthea}

On the evening they returned home from the surface after she had tucked her little Arda into bed and climbed into her own beside Atlas, she cried into her pillow until the we hours of the morning: no sleep came to her, only tears. Seeing how her little girl had been above filled her with the dread that one day she would leave Rapture behind and chose a life above – she feared she would never see her little girl ever again after that. This thought filled her heart with such sorrow that night after night her tears persisted despite Atlas' attempts to comfort her – not even the normally soothing embrace of her father seemed to chase that feeling away for long. It was on her third night of tears that her little girl had at last visited her in her bed, her tiny hands grabbing onto her own larger ones as her cute little voice had asked why – she found she couldn't speak at all and just held her daughter close. It would be the last night of her tears – she knew somehow since that visit that no matter what, when she would wake she would find her daughter was still beside her, if not in body then in heart.

 

20 – Write ((Jack & Iriena and Irinna 3)) {Jack}

When they came home after their trip above, he watched as his sisters began the nightly routine of drawing something that had seen above: Iriena would draw that they had seen, the 'glittery' version of what the surface looked like at first and then Irinna would draw the reality of the picture, the cold gritty truth. Watching them do this for a few nights, he was inspired to write a story that went with their pictures: an informational text on the surface for the curious kids of Rapture to read. From then on while his sisters drew, he wrote and wrote and wrote some more: he wrote until his hand was sore and there was nothing else to write. With his sisters, they started to make their book: his sisters mounted their drawings and photographs onto the paper while Jack borrowed his father's typewriter to type all the text that went along with the pictures, placing it on the bottom when done. A few weeks later they proudly showed their father their work, hands held together and heads held high: they were even prouder when a few days later their father handed them their very own copy of the now professionally printed book that soon all of Rapture would see.

 

32 – Karma ((Arda)) {Arda}

One day while browsing the market with her grandfather a sudden shuffling of the crowed pushed her forward, pulling her hand from his, and leaving her alone and slightly worried – she had never been truly lost before now. She tried in vain to find him through the crowd, but the massive amount of people was hard to navigate with her small size and when at last they cleared he was no where to be seen – she didn't even know where she was or how to get back to the main market. It was while she was floundering around trying to look for a way back that she encountered a tall man walking by: he was very tall and stocky with a bald head and mustache and, for some reason, the way he walked and held himself he made her think of her daddy The man spotted her as she was staring at him, looked around in confusion, and then came over to her: he was very nice to her, bringing her to a nearby square where there were other people shopping and he bought her ice cream to eat while he asked her this and that. He was very interested in her daddy for some reason and kept muttering under his breath about 'karma' whatever that was – when grandfather showed up looking for her, she noted the odd look that was exchanged between him and the tall man before grandfather scooped her up and carried her home in a hurry, telling her to not mention this at all to her mommy or daddy.

 

50 **My Choice**

50 – Outside ((Fontaine)) {Fontaine}

He thought he had had everything figured out, the perfect plan to finally undo Ryan by way of his own child but Ryan's men had shown up too soon and that little girl had wound up with her papa: he had resorted to his back-up plan of training his son Atlas to woo the girl over. In hindsight, perhaps it would have been wiser to be nice and caring towards his son so the boy would want to listen to him but he hadn't been a good father at all to Atlas: Atlas had all but abandoned him at first sight of Anthea and, to add insult to injury, the boy had married her and taken **her** last name, becoming a Ryan himself! He had been curious about what Atlas had been doing after that so he had enlisted a few of his men to figure out the boy's routine and it had been all to easy to run into him at a florist, but he hadn't expected what he had seen: his son was apparently a father himself now and the tiny little girl he had so protectively guarded had somehow managed to dominate his thoughts since that day with nothing more than a single look. Perhaps it had been fate or just coincidence that had him encounter that same little girl some time later looking lost and confused in a small alley near the market: a glance around had shown no accompaniment to her so he had approached her, led her to a shop, treated her to ice cream, and then started asking her questions which had been gladly answered. It hadn't been too long before Ryan himself had shown up to whisk the little girl away back into her palace to be guarded by her father but the talk had been insightful to stay the least: as he trudged back to his apartment the old feeling of being outside looking in at what Ryan had with jealously welled up with fury and for a moment, just a moment, a part of him wondered if there could have ever been a way where he was inside too.

 

 


End file.
